They Noticed
by the-author-at-221B
Summary: When high-school student Tony Stark is being abused at home, he doesn't expect anyone to notice. Or care, for that matter. And for the most part, he's right. But there are four students that he didn't count on, and one that surprised him completely. High-school AU - Based off a prompt on tumblr.


Hello once again! This is based on a prompt sent into me by crushondeanlikeafairy on tumblr. Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Natasha:

Natasha wasn't stupid. Everyone knew what was going on with that kid. At the beginning, he had tried to cover the bruises on his arms and legs, but he had since stopped trying.

It was almost as if he had stopped caring.

Tony, his name was. He was actually a sort of nice kid, a bit geeky, but nice. It was a shame that he had gotten placed with that Obadiah character. She had heard that he was a real dick.

She closed her locker, and turned to walk to her next class, which happened to be science. God, she hated science. She walked in the door seconds before the tardy bell rang, and got ready to just plop her books into the first empty desk as she always did when she noticed something.

There he was. Tony, way in the back with his head down on the desk, trying to ignore the insults and various things thrown at him.

"Look at the little freak!" One of the other boys called, kicking his desk. Tony just buried his head deeper in his arms.

"Aww! Is the little bitch gonna cry?" Another laughed, walking around the table and smacking the back of his head. "Are you gonna go cry to your mommy and daddy?"

"No man, he doesn't even got any!" a girl across the classroom jeered. "Heard they died in some freaky science accident or some shit like that!"

"Hey Nat," the boy called, taking notice of her. "Come check this little fag out!"

Now Natasha Romanaoff wasn't a hero. She wasn't someone to stand up and out of the crowd. But as she quickly crossed the room and sat next to Tony, catching the next eraser thrown and flinging it back with twice the speed, she wondered.

If she couldn't be a hero, there was still a good chance that she could be a friend.

* * *

Clint:

Math class. Clint Barton _hated_ math class. Who gave a flying shit about fining the area of a triangle? If it's really that important, pay someone else to do it! With an overly-exaggerated groan, he flopped his head down on the desk, peeking out from underneath his arm to look out into the hallway.

There was that Tony Stark kid again. He quickly reached his locker and began furiously working on his lock, trying to get the thing open.

_ Good luck_, Clint thought dryly. _These lockers are pieces of shit, along with everything else in this school_. He turned his head away from the struggling student, and started tearing up paper and flinging the little bits at the students again. He swore it was the only thing that kept him sane during this class. His trouble making was interrupted by a loud slam from outside the classroom. He whipped his head around to see Tony getting pushed into a locker by one of the upper-classmen.

"Mr. Barton!" He whipped his head around again to face his angry teacher. "Was that you making that noise?!"

"Are you fucking crazy?" he sneered. "It came from outside!"

"Language!" his teacher snapped. "Now pay attention!" Clint let the matter drop, but he was still looking outside at Tony. Poor kid was really getting messed up. Clint sank his hand down into his backpack, and pulled out one of the metal rulers. Looks like this thing was going to be useful after all. Clint lined up his shot, holding the ruler like a throwing knife and quickly threw it into the shoulder of Tony's attacker. He laughed as the boy howled in pain, and laughed even harder as his teacher assigned him detention.

Natasha was going to be there too, after all.

* * *

Thor:

Thor had been in fights before. He had been in many fights, to be quite honest. He almost always came out on top, but there had been times when he was beaten. Looking over his shoulder at the kid behind him, he could tell that this kid had been on the losing side of _a lot_ of scraps. It was gym class, and the teacher was letting them use the punching bags during free time.

Thor turned back to the said punching bags, and let loose a flurry of well-placed jabs and kicks. This was _obviously_ his favorite class. He turned back around once more to look at the beat up boy again. Being gym class, everyone had to wear t-shirts, so the bruises and cuts were very visible. Thor looked a little closer at his arms, and saw that those bruises were too big to be placed there by another student. So that meant that…

Oh…

Thor sighed, and punched the bag again, but he wasn't very into it. He walked over to the soccer nets that were stacked by the wall and pushed them aside, revealing his brother with his nose buried in a book.

"What is that kid's name with the bruises all over his arms?"

"Tony Stark," Loki answered, without looking up from his book. "You bleeding-heart." Thor smiled, and brought the nets around so they concealed his brother once more. He walked back over to the punching bags.

"Tony!" he called out, beckoning the younger boy over to him.

"What, me?" he called back, timidly. This was the captain of the varsity football team. Whatever he wanted could not be good. But Thor smiled, and gestured him over again. Tony eventually agreed and walked over to where Thor was standing. Thor drew his fists up and placed his feet.

"I'm going to teach you how to block a punch," he said matter-of-factly. "And then, I'm going to teach you how to throw one….

* * *

Bruce:

"Alright, class! Time to pick partners! You have two minutes to decide who you want to work with for the science fair, and make wise decisions! The project you two will create will be worth twenty percent of your grade!" As soon as the teacher finished speaking, Bruce Banner was swarmed.

"Hey man! Want to be my partner?"

"Cool shirt, Bruce! Do you want to team up?"

"Hey Brucie! You look really cute today….I was thinking..,"

"Dude, I'll give you twenty bucks if you pair up with me!"

Bruce waved all the offers away. Funny how nobody wanted to talk to him unless it was science fair time. He glanced over to the boy in the corner who seemed to be talking to himself. Against his better judgment, he tried to eavesdrop.

"No, change it to 30. We might be able to upgrade it by the time Obadiah gets home… How long will he be at work for? Jarvis? Ah, there you are. How long will he be at work for? Okay, that could give us enough time…" Tony was interrupted by an excited voice.

"Is that an AI?" Bruce asked with a smile.

"Beg pardon?"

"An AI, an artificial intelligence. Are you speaking to one?" Tony let out a small smile.

"Yeah, actually I am. His name is Jarvis."

"Oh that is so cool. How did you do that?"

As the two teens discussed how to build an AI, and what things were needed, the teacher called out time, and asked everyone for their partners name.

And Tony let out the biggest smile when Bruce stood up and said, "Tony Stark".

* * *

Steve:

This was the type of thing that got him in trouble. This was the type of thing that would come back to haunt him This was….argh! He quickly turned around and walked back, but changed his mind and ran back again to Tony Stark's front door. Why he had the biggest crush on him, he didn't know. All he knew was that he got all lightheaded when he was talking to Tony, and today was the day to do something about it.

_ This isn't hard, Rodgers. Just ring the bell, and ask if he wants to go to the movies. No big deal. The worst thing he can do is say no and ruin your life forever._

He took a deep breath, preparing himself, and reached for the doorbell. He was stopped when he heard a loud crash from inside the house. It was soon followed by yelling and screaming and…was that? Was that Tony? Without thinking, Steve drew up a leg and kicked down the door. He rushed inside, but was not prepared for the sight inside.

There was Tony, held up by his collar in the hands of some strange man, with blood tracing from his nose.

"Get the hell out of my house!" the man who could only be Obadiah yelled. "What the hell are you even doing here?" He threw Tony to the ground and started to reach for Steve.

But Steve was a bit too quick for that. He smacked Obadiah's hand out of the way, and ran for Tony. He staggered back when he reached him, however. Tony was _covered_ in marks, bruises, cuts. It was worse than anybody at school _ever_ said.

Steve felt his blood boiling.

As Obidiah reached for him again, he caught his hand, and swung at the man's jaw with all he had. The blow sent Obidiah sprawling across the floor. Steve quickly grabbed Tony's hand and practically dragged him out of the door. They ran for a while, moving as fast as they could. As they stopped to catch their breath, Tony turned on Steve.

"Why did you do that? I'm going to have to go back there!" he shouted, fear showing in his eyes. Steve bit his lip. "You could stay with me for a while," he suggested softly. There was a silence for a bit, as Tony processed what he had said. When he finally did, he gave Steve a cheeky grin.

"Can you at least take me to dinner first?"

"How about dinner and a movie?" Steve held out his hand.

Tony took it.

"That sounds amazing."

* * *

Thank you much for reading! And, as always, if you could leave a review, any and all feedback is most welcome! Thank you!


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